New York City - Director/choreographer Twyla Tharp will be presented with the 2010 I.A.L. Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts from Columbia University on May 1. Tharp, who recently opened her new critically acclaimed musical, "Come Fly Away," at Broadway's Marquis Theatre, is a 1963 graduate of Columbia's Barnard College.

The I.A.L. Diamond Award is presented annually in conjunction with Columbia University's "The Varsity Show," their longest standing performing arts tradition. Each year, The Varsity Show presents the I.A.L. Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts to a Columbia or Barnard alumnus who has demonstrated an ongoing commitment to, and has found success in, the arts.

The award, named in honor of Columbia alumnus I.A.L. Diamond, a writer of "The Varsity Show" from 1938 to 1941 as well as a renowned Hollywood screenwriter ("Some Like It Hot," "The Apartment"), is the highest honor bestowed by the organization to Columbia alumni. Previous award recipients include Terrence McNally, Art Garfunkel, Jeanine Tesori, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, and Diane Paulus.

The 2010 I.A.L. Diamond Award reception will be held on Saturday, May 1 at 6:15 p.m. in Room 555 of Alfred Lerner Hall on the Columbia University Campus. Alfred Lerner Hall is located at 2920 Broadway (at 115th Street). The reception is by invitation only.

A performance of the 116th Annual Varsity Show will follow the reception at 8 p.m. in the Roone Arledge Auditorium, also in Alfred Lerner Hall. Additional performances of "The Varsity Show" are scheduled for Friday, April 30 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, May 2 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Tickets for the performances of "The Varsity Show" are available to the general public and may be purchased after April 15 through the Lerner Hall Ticket and Information Center (www.cuarts.com/calendar/tickets).

About Twyla Tharp
Since graduating from college in 1963, Tharp has choreographed more than 135 dances, five Hollywood movies, directed and/or choreographed four Broadway shows, written three books and received one Tony Award, two Emmy Awards, 19 honorary doctorates, the Vietnam Veterans of America President's Award, the 2004 National Medal of the Arts and many grants including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and an Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 1965 Tharp founded her dance company, Twyla Tharp Dance. In addition to choreographing for her own company, she has choreographed for many other companies including: American Ballet Theatre, The Paris Opera Ballet, The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet, The Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance and The Martha Graham Dance Company. Tharp's work first appeared on Broadway in 1980 with "When We Were Very Young," followed in 1981 by her collaboration with David Byrne on "The Catherine Wheel" at the Winter Garden. Her 1985 production of "Singin' In The Rain" played at the Gershwin and was followed by an extensive national tour. In 2002, Tharp's award-winning dance musical "Movin' Out," set to the music and lyrics of Billy Joel, premiered at the Richard Rodgers and ran for three years. A national tour opened in 2004 and also ran for three years. For MMovin' Out Tharp received the 2003 Tony Award, the 2003 Astaire Award, the Drama League Award for Sustained Achievement in Musical Theater; and both the Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Choreography. For the London production Tharp won Best Choreography (Musical Theatre) Award of the UK's Critics' Circle National Dance Awards 2006. In 2006 Tharp worked with Bob Dylan's music and lyrics to create "The Times They Are A-Changin'" which played at the Brooks Atkinson. In film Tharp has collaborated with director Milos Forman on "Hair" in 1978, "Ragtime" in 1980, and "Amadeus" in 1984, with Taylor Hackford on "White Nights" in 1985 and with James Brooks on "I'll Do Anything" in 1994. Her television credits include choreographing "Sue's Leg" for the inaugural episode of PBS' "Dance In America;" co-producing and directing "Making Television Dance," which won the Chicago International Film Festival Award; and directing "The Catherine Wheel" for BBC Television. Tharp co-directed the television special "Baryshnikov By Tharp," which won two Emmy Awards as well as the Director's Guild of America Award for Outstanding Director Achievement. In 1992 Tharp wrote her autobiography "Push Comes To Shove." Her second book, "The Creative Habit: Learn it and Use it for Life," was published in October 2003, and she recently released "The Collaborative Habit: Life Lessons for Working Together." Today Tharp continues to create and to lecture around the world.